Texas Council on Family ViolencePromotes Safe and Healthy Relationships2015-03-31T18:07:15Zhttp://www.tcfv.org/feed/atom/WordPressrrioshttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=106322015-03-27T19:05:33Z2015-03-27T19:05:33ZDepartment: family violence center

Client: Northwest Assistance Ministries

Location: 15555 Kuykendahl Rd., Houston, Texas 77090

FLSA status: Salaried/Exempt

SALARY: 16.00/hr., 40 hrs. / week

Posted: 3/27/2015

Closing: 4/30/2015

Responsible For:

Developing and presenting youth violence awareness and education to middle and high school students in a five school district area, including Aldine, Klein, Cy-Fair, Spring and Tomball ISDs.

Collaborating with and serving on a number of the five ISDs school health advisory councils (SHACs)

Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field.(Master’s degree preferred)

Experience in supervision of staff and volunteers.

Knowledgeable and experienced with crisis interventions techniques.

Computer literacy, using a variety of programs.

Experience with data entry on a large scale.

History of working in a detail-oriented environment.

Excellent organizational, verbal, and written skills.

Ability to work independently.

Skills, Training:

Experience in Family Violence program administration preferred.

Experience in working with domestic violence victims preferred.

Experience in working in feminist social change program helpful.

Skill in interfacing with communities of faith preferred.

To Apply:

For consideration, please email your cover letter and resume as an attachment to resumes@namonline.org with the job title “ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR”, in the subject line.

No walk-ins or phone calls please.

*All applicants must be able to pass a background check.

]]>0rrioshttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=105012015-03-23T14:33:04Z2015-03-23T14:33:04ZDomestic Violence Survivor Speaks Out About How Her Daughter was Murdered by her Boyfriend and How Domestic Violence Services Could Have Saved Her Life

Austin, Texas – March 19, 2015– The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) is teaming up with legislators and thousands of Texans to support full funding for family violence services.

Today, thousands of postcards are being delivered to legislators to show how important full funding is for family violence programs. Advocates, allies and survivors of family violence use the color purple to symbolize their work to end violence within families.

Rep. Sylvester Turner, Vice Chairman of House Appropriations, Brazos County District Attorney Jarvis Parsons and Catherine Shellman whose daughter Tiffanie was murdered in a domestic violence homicide joined Gloria Terry CEO of TCFV at a news conference at the Capitol.

“Raising awareness about domestic violence and making sure funding is a priority– is important to me and the Texas Legislature,” said Rep. Sylvester Turner, Vice Chairman of House Appropriations.

“Full funding is especially critical to ensure victims of domestic violence have a safety net,” said Gloria A. Terry, President of TCFV. “We are blessed that we have such strong support from legislators advocating for victims of domestic violence and we especially want to thank Senator Jane Nelson and Rep. Sylvester Turner for their outstanding leadership on this life and death issue.”

“I’m proud to participate in the Purple Postcard Project for the fifth session in a row. Our state’s commitment to victims of family violence continues this session, and I stand with each of Texas’ 5 million lifetime victims of family violence, the over 84,000 people served in family violence centers last year alone, and the ones who love and support them. We will prioritize funding for family violence services, said Senator Jane Nelson, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “

Full funding is important to try and prevent domestic violence murders like 23-year-old Tiffanie Perry who was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, Kenny Trevino, in September 2010. She was attending Texas State University in San Marcos and getting ready to leave her boyfriend for good when he killed her and then killed himself.

Her mom, Catherine Shellman says, “I did not know about the domestic violence until it was too late when I found and read Tiffanies’ journal and I don’t want that to happen to another mom or dad, so I speak out to urge people to talk about domestic violence and realize that anyone can be a victim and we must do all we can to recognize the signs and get help before it is too late.”

“ It is imperative that we fully fund family violence services to help prevent and eliminate this serious crime, said Jarvis Parsons, District Attorney for Brazos County in Bryan-College Station.”

The purple postcards come from people across Texas as a strong statement to legislators to fully fund family violence. Members of TCFV will deliver thousands of postcards to legislators throughout the State Capitol.

For more information about the purple postcard campaign you can log onto www.tcfv.org

Interested Candidates, please send resumes to hr@hawc.org and place in subject line: The position you are seeking: example, subject line: Counselor

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer

]]>0adminhttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=102912015-02-20T17:15:20Z2015-02-20T17:13:59ZGloria Terry, CEO of the Texas Council on Family Violence speaks during a rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. The Texas Council on Family Violence and the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and hundreds of victims’ rights advocates from across the state of Texas rallied at the Texas Capitol to strongly support full funding for family violence programs and rape crisis centers across Texas.
]]>0rrioshttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=102712015-02-19T21:28:37Z2015-02-19T21:27:20Z

The Texas Council on Family Violence is a statewide organization representing a network of domestic violence programs that provide direct services to victims and their families, and serves as the voice of victims at the state level while working with local communities to create strategies to prevent family violence.

The Survivor and Program Advocacy Policy Analyst supports the development and implementation of best practices for service provision to survivors of family violence, is able to leverage social media and other technologies in this work, and has strong program management experience.

II. Priority functions / Accountabilities

Respond in a professional manner to requests for technical assistance and consultations on topics including, but not limited to: safe use of technology, privacy and safety planning, compliance with the requirements of state and federal agencies and funders, best practices for service provision to survivors of family violence, data management.

Project management of large-scale effort to streamline reporting mechanisms between service providers and funders.

Consult with staff, family violence programs, funders, and state and federal policymakers (legislative or regulatory) in response to requests for analyses, evaluations and opinions regarding implementation of family violence and related laws, rules or policies; actively solve problems with providers to ensure effective operating and management policies and procedures, utilizing interviews, professional experience and research, gathering, verifying and analyzing factual information and detail.

Contribute to the development of processes to monitor and analyze the effective implementation of laws, rules and policies affecting family violence programs and the services they provide.

Perform other policy-related activities individually or in coordination with the Team as requested by the Policy Manager and Policy Director.

III. Minimum Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Demonstrated knowledge of advocacy services to survivors of family violence.

Ability to read, write and converse in English (Spanish in addition to English is a plus).

Strong and effective interpersonal and diplomacy skills to participate in, facilitate or lead teams to engage and/or partner with a wide variety of people and organizations.

Demonstrated skill in development and presentation of adult education programs.

Self-driven to work independently with minimal supervision and use disciplined time management skills.

Ability to work within a team to offer support and collaborate on team projects.

Ability to respond with sensitivity and awareness to those with diverse cultural, ethnic, social backgrounds, values, attitudes, and languages.

Strong ability to give and receive feedback with openness and respect.

Self-starter, energetic, able to work independently, enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives and thrives in a dynamic environment. Utilizes agency’s resources responsibly.

IV. Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in human services or policy or related field or any combination of related education and experience with a documented record of the ability to perform duties and responsibilities of the position.

Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite; and demonstrated ability to learn new software as needed.

Minimum of at least one year in the domestic violence movement.

Strong understanding of systems advocacy.

V. Working Conditions and Environment/Physical Demands: Ability to travel, including some overnight trips. Requires occasional bending, stooping, lifting and carrying objects up to 25 pounds, with or without accommodations. Candidate must possess the emotional and physical stamina to deal with a variety of stressful situations, such as: responding to complaints; handling difficult internal and external interactions; effectively working long and, at times, odd hours; maintaining a sense of humor throughout.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and minimum level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for the position. The employee will be required to perform any other job-related duties as required by the job objectives, the Director Support to Service Providersand mission and philosophy of TCFV.

]]>0rrioshttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=102652015-02-19T19:25:59Z2015-02-19T19:25:20ZMeet the 2015 Young Hearts Matter Advocates of the Year, and Finalists from Across Texas

Austin, TX (February 19, 2015)– Today, Young Hearts Matter, a campaign to bring awareness to teen dating abuse, recognized key leaders across Texas during February, Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month. Teen dating abuse happens in every school across Texas and the United States.

Events and programs to raise awareness allow students to come forward and get advice and help before a situation escalates to violent behavior. In today’s environment, technology like social media and texting, can make it easy for teens and young adults to communicate, but it can also make it easy for a dating partner to use technology to harass, control and abuse their boyfriend or girlfriend. The Texas Council on Family Violence is working to make sure students are engaged, educated and empowered to know their rights and know when they are involved in healthy and unhealthy dating relationships.

Sarah Ambrus, C-Squared, Leander, TXTCFV is honoring Sarah Ambrus as Advocate of the Year. This award recognizes an adult ally who partners with young people, is a leader for violence prevention in her community and has made prevention programming more accessible as a result of her efforts.

Sarah Ambrus is a special education teacher for Leander ISD and one of the original co-sponsors of C-Squared. C-Squared, or Coalition of Clubs, is a campus organization that started in 2010 where students joined together to encourage a culture of kindness on their campus. Sarah and co-author, Christine Simpson, chronicled the collaborative models, practical tools, and firsthand accounts from students, parents and teachers who worked together to positively influence their campus in their book, “Riding Shotgun: Empowering Students to Lead Change.” From these beginnings, the C-Squared movement has grown and spread to 33 elementary, middle, and high schools across Leander ISD, where most of the schools were designated as No Place for Hate campuses by the Anti-Defamation League in 2014. Much of this growth can be attributed to the support Sarah offers during her free C-Squared sponsor trainings.

Nicole Gray, Focusing Families, Hempstead, TXTCFV is also honoring Nicole Gray of Focusing Families in Hempstead, Texas as the youth ally who is an activist in her community and a school leader among her peers. She has done outstanding work to spread awareness and prevent dating and sexual violence.

Nicole is currently interning at Focusing Families in Hempstead. There she helps facilitate healthy relationships sessions to her peer groups at Hempstead Middle School. She passionately stands before groups of students and helps lead conversations that will end violence in communities. A survivor herself, Nicole has never let that define her. Instead, she has used her process of healing to find her voice to stop all forms of violence to her generation. Additionally, Nicole has helped Focusing Families start becoming more youth focused, once again giving voice to her generation.

“The hearts of the young people in our lives are precious. Teen dating violence is an urgent and silent problem across Texas,” said TCFV CEO Gloria Terry. “We are getting our sons and daughters involved in raising awareness at an early age in hopes that they will never experience or perpetuate violence. We are thrilled to be working with local programs, school districts and student leaders across Texas who are coming up with many innovative ways to educate their peers in their schools. The Texas Council on Family Violence is also thrilled to honor Nicole Gray and the other honorees who are leading the way in dating violence prevention in their schools and communities.”

This month, students in schools across Texas with the help of domestic violence service providers, school districts and TCFV are getting involved in campaigns in their schools to help identify the signs of an unhealthy relationship and help students know their dating rights. Dating abuse takes place when a person physically, sexually, verbally or emotionally abuses another person in the context of a dating or romantic relationship and when one or both of them is a minor.

Statistics in a statewide survey show that 75% of 16 to 24 year old Texans have either personally experienced dating violence or know someone who has experienced it. According to a recent study, between 42% and 87% of dating violence occurs in a school building or on school grounds, with the highest occurrences in rural areas.

Schools in Texas can help teens lay the foundation for making good dating decisions while they are in school by applying a whole-school approach to end the violence happening on school grounds, making their dating abuse policies clear and implementing them, training faculty and staff to recognize and respond to the signs, educating youth to support behavioral change and by observing Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month every February.

Meet the 2015 Young Hearts Matter Awards Finalists

Xavier Thompson, United Voices 4 Change, Ft. Worth, TXXavier Thompson is the President of United Voices 4 Change, a unified body of student leaders from campuses across Ft. Worth ISD. The mission of UV4C is to address common concerns, provide service to their community, and teach positive qualities to help create problem free communities. The UV4C elects its own representatives from each school, including the group’s officers. Each year the UV4C hosts a youth retreat to help train the new teams of students on their mission, and plan events they want to see happen in their school. Xavier plays a key role in planning this retreat and is responsible for submitting the group’s agendas to the Ft.WISD school board and superintendent. Last spring, Xavier was chosen to do a local TEDx talk on INOK, or It’s Not Okay, a campaign started by the UV4C to talk about making respect the social norm in their communities. This is Xavier’s 3rd year in UV4C and he is truly a great young man with a heart to make a difference in the world.

Zara Hassan, Be Project, Dallas, TXZara was a part of The Family Place Be Project leadership group in her school, Turner High School, for two years before graduating in 2012. During that time, she served as a leader and role model to her peers by implementing awareness activities on her campus. After graduating, Zara stayed connected to The Family Place Be Project. Last summer she volunteered with Be Project staff and helped present workshops on empathy and bullying to kids at a summer camp. Zara has been an amazing leader at the Be Project.

Jeff Temple, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TXJeff Temple is a professional who has dedicated his career advocating for healthy teen relationships. He wears many hats, one of which is an associate professor for the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UTMB – Galveston. Dr. Temple is also the Director of Behavioral Health and Research where he dedicates much of his research to adolescent behavior, sexual health, and teen dating violence. In 2013, Dr. Temple published a study on the Need for School-Based Teen Dating Violence Prevention programs. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Task Force for DV HB2620, which aims to inform the Texas Legislator about appropriate domestic violence interventions and improvements to responses, and as a Board of Trustees of Galveston ISD.

Amy Miller, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dallas, TXIn addition to being the school counselor at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, Amy Miller goes above and beyond to make sure that each student on the upper school campus receives messages about empathy and healthy relationships in an effort to create a kind and bully-free STA through her partnership with the Be Project. This is not an easy task as STA is the largest Catholic Pk-8th grade school in Texas! Be Project is a program that empowers youth to be a part of the solution to end relationship violence and has been implemented at STA for the past three years. Amy has made it her personal responsibility to assist Be Project staff with facilitating the Be Project program on campus and currently oversees the Be More leadership group, a group of student leaders who organize awareness events on campus. Amy has helped Be More students organize and implement a secret school-wide flash dance during Bullying Awareness Month in October and the group continues to plan events for the spring semester! Amy is a true ally who has helped to give space to young people’s voices in her school community.

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]]>0adminhttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=101912015-03-24T19:17:40Z2015-02-16T20:00:38ZJoin TCFV for the 12th Annual BIPP Conference. We will offer 12.25 CJAD approved hours with advanced workshops covering: Communications, Facilitation, Management, Prevention, and vital Legislative information. Register now to get the early bird special.

Friday, April 17, 20156:30 pm
Dell DiamondJoin TCFV in decompressing from a great first conference day. The Round Rock Express baseball team will host their season opener at the incredible Dell Diamond. TCFV has reserved special tickets just for BIPP Conference participants. There are a limited number of tickets so reserve yours now.

]]>0rrioshttp://www.tcfv.org/?p=101662015-02-09T19:28:16Z2015-02-09T19:28:16ZAustin, TX- On the heels of Super Bowl XLIX’s first public service announcement to create awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault, front line leaders meet today to share strategies for strengthening and sustaining local family violence shelters and rape crisis centers. They will also discuss issues affecting service delivery, prevention, and awareness. “Bringing together leaders from across the state who shape their respective communities response to the complex needs of victims is essential. They not only learn from key presenters on relevant topics, they also learn from one another. These practices keep us focused on providing the safety, empowerment, tools and resources that best serve families in crisis,” says Gloria A. Terry, CEO of TCFV.

The increase in high profile cases covered by local and national media outlets impacts sexual assault and domestic violence service providers who often experience an upsurge in calls from survivors as a result. “National media coverage inevitably increases the number of survivors that reach out to local service providers. It’s helpful to learn from each other how we can best serve our respective communities” says Annette Burrhus-Clay, TAASA’s Executive Director

Survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence have unique and complex needs and deserve accessible, comprehensive, community-based services. Local agencies work to address the needs of survivors and the debunk misconceptions around both issues.

As local agencies continue to meet the needs of survivors in their communities, a true and genuine partnership between coalitions provides the greatest opportunities for success. The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and the Texas Council on Family Violence work jointly to maximize efforts in providing guidance and enhancing survivor-centered services across the state.

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The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) is the statewide organization committed to ending sexual violence in Texas. A non-profit educational and advocacy organization based in Austin, TAASA member agencies comprise a statewide network of more than 80 crisis centers that serve rural as well as metropolitan areas. Founded in 1982, the agency has a strong record of success in community education, legal services, youth outreach, law enforcement training, legislative advocacy, and curricula and materials development. Additional information about TAASA can be found at www.taasa.org.

Texas Council on Family Violence is the only 501(c) 3 nonprofit coalition in Texas dedicated solely to creating safer communities and freedom from family violence. With a state-wide reach and direct local impact, TCFV, with the collective strength of more than 1000 members, shapes public policy, equips service providers, and initiates strategic prevention efforts. Visit us online at http://www.tcfv.org/